Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Out for a quick blast.

Looking up at the falls from the top of pitch one.

Most of my regular climbing partners are either away for Christmas or sunning themselves in Spain so I was going to do nothing today but by 10.30am I was already bored. A packed a bag and headed for Sgurr Finnisg-aig falls on the lower East side of Aonach Mor. I left the car park at 11.45 and topped out at 14.15 and took the gondola back down. The ice wasn't as well formed as I would of expected so I missed out the first pitch which looked a bit thin and started on the second and easier pitch. The ice was in pretty good nick, in places it was good and chewy but there was some brittle ice around as well. I carried on up to the upper fall which is the crux of the climb. From the bottom it didn't look too well formed but when I got there it was perfect. So I got my head together and started climbing. It was a great 40m pitch and the only real difficulty was when I stepped off left onto a small ledge for a rest and had to make a couple of interesting moves to get reestablished on the main line. I'm off to see family for a few days but I might just try and get a day out in the Lakes whilst I'm at it.